


Walk With You

by inspiredbythemusic



Series: NCT 127 Drabbles [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:12:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25543414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inspiredbythemusic/pseuds/inspiredbythemusic
Relationships: Moon Taeil/Reader
Series: NCT 127 Drabbles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850926
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Walk With You

Dating Taeil was a happy, albeit brief, memory. Granted, you had naturally fallen out of the habit of meeting for coffee or exchanging scattered texts thought the weeks to detail the memories you were making as separate individuals, and you couldn't quite remember if his voice sounded the same in person as it did on the radio, but you harbored no ill will toward him. You harbored no bitterness toward the fact that his pursuit of his dreams and your pursuit of his own had led you on diverging paths. Maybe you were too content to see his smiling face on billboards and on the covers of CDs you bought from the record store— maybe you were too proud to have been in the same place together once upon a time to greedily wish to see him again. 

It had been so organic— so gradual that it was _**almost**_ painless— your growing apart, so maybe it wasn't foolish to hope on dark lonely nights or wish on the whistling spring breeze that it would also be organic— so gradual that it was almost painless— your reunion. 

It is well known that the universe rewards those who let go, adapt to changes, and make the most of their given lot. Maybe that's why you were not speechless from shock when your vague imaginations of the person Taeil would be today were painted into vivid reality on a particularly gloomy rainy day when the sun was nowhere to be found in the pale gray sky. 

Were it not for the mandatory meeting at work, you wouldn't have dared to venture to the cafe on the corner that you frequented since high school. You wouldn't have spotted familiar eyes in the corner while standing in line to order your morning dose of caffeine. Your heart would have thundered and swelled in instant recognition of him. 

Although Taeil looked at you with smiling eyes as if he recognized you just as fondly, you walked with your coffee and laptop to a table by the window. Because he sat in the coldest, darkest, dampest corner of the cafe with his mask drawn over his face and a hood over his head, you pieced together that he was trying to enjoy his breakfast without drawing attention. Empathizing with the thought that peace and privacy must have been impossible to come by as an idol, you easily set aside your daydreams about reuniting with a brilliant spark from the past. 

Forbidding your eyes from wandering back to his corner, you opened your laptop, took a sip from your cup, and reviewed your presentation for the meeting. You might have never noticed him standing beside you had he not said your name with a softness that implied a sort of hesitance. 

When you looked at him, forgetting how to breathe much less raise your lips into a smile, Taeil lowered his mask. "Do you remember me?"

"Yes." You nodded while closing your laptop. "Of course, I just—" You gestured to the seat across from you— "You can sit if you'd like, but I—"

Tail accepted your invitation to sit. Something about the way he looked at you prevented you from finishing a single sentence. Raising an eyebrow as he secured his mask, he guessed what you were going to say. "You're not staying long, are you?" 

You shook your head because you couldn't bring yourself to say, "No." 

Nodding once, Taeil turned his gaze out the window. His eyes narrowed as they trailed the raindrops sliding down the glass. The lilt in his voice encouraged you to believe that he smiled behind his mask as he asked, "That's how it always goes in novels and films, right? The lead finally catches a glimpse of the one he only sees in memories or dreams, but they each have to race back to their separate lives before they can even say, 'I miss you.'"

Losing yourself in his sentence, you leaned onto the table. You blinked as if to commit the sight of him before you to your book of memories or as if each brief moment of darkness would prevent you from becoming too attached to his fleeting image. 

Taeil's eyes met yours, and before you could comb through your mind for any of the things you swore to tell him if given the chance, you blurted, "I miss you." Taeil wheezed as if he hadn't expected you to say so. "I have time to tell you before I go to my meeting."

"I miss you too," Taeil said once he caught his breath, dropping his gaze onto the table. "Before I go to the studio, I have time to tell you that I think about you a lot. When I'm not busy, all that keeps me from texting you is the thought that your number might have changed or that you might not want to talk to me or that you would be disappointed when I inevitably fall out of touch again, or—" His face flushed crimson— "that I might accidentally tell you my every fear when I only meant to say 'hi.'"

Quietly, you told him, "I think about you a lot too. For future reference, my number hasn't changed, and I do want to talk to you, and I'll understand if you fall out of touch, and it's okay for you to tell me your every fear." 

Taeil sighed. "I knew it. I knew that if I spoke to you again, I would remember how much I love you. I would forget that nothing has changed since we broke up— I still don't have time to give you the attention you deserve— and I would ask you to love me again even if it ends like it did before." He tugged at his mask to reveal his wistful half-smile. "What's that saying? 'Some mistakes are destined to repeat themselves.'"

"I don't think it's a mistake," You argued, nearly tearing up at the knotting in your stomach. "Even when we went our separate ways and I thought that I wouldn't see you again, I never thought that loving you was a mistake."

"That's not what I meant," Taeil swore. His face paled. "It's just— I'm sorry. It's a little foolish and selfish for me to lead you down a path that may end as soon as we start walking." 

You said, "I wouldn't follow if I didn't know how to make my own way." Taeil tilted his head, leaning onto the table, and you continued, "You don't have to promise forever to give someone a beautiful day. I think you underestimate how much a day with you is worth."

Smiling as soon as you did, Taeil asked, "Is that what you think?"

Before you could nod your head, your alarm sounded to remind you that the meeting started in half an hour. 

Sparing you the burden of saying 'good-bye' first, Taeil stood, bowed, and promised, "Then I'll meet you for another beautiful day, and I'll walk with you for as long as I can." 


End file.
